This invention relates to an improved rolling mill construction wherein bearing chocks for at least a pair of rolls are supported in windows of a pair of housings each having an inverted U-shaped configuration and provided with removable bars to transfer the rolling load from the chocks of the lower roll to post sections of the housings.
A pair of cast mill housings is usually provided to support and resist the separating or rolling forces on roll assemblies for processing workpieces. A 2-high or a 4-high rolling mill is selected on the basis of the rolling loads and the shape of the workpiece. Because of the tremendous separating force that develops between the rolls when processing workpieces, the mill housings usually take the form of massive unitary castings each having a machined window for supporting the bearing chocks of the roll assemblies. A screwdown or other form of adjusting means is built in the housings to establish a roll gap by positioning the chocks for one of the rolls relative to the remaining roll assembly. When a screwdown is used, nuts are supported in bored openings in housing top crossmembers and screws are rotated through the nuts so that the screw ends extend into engagement with the chocks of the upper roll assembly. At the bottom of the housing, there is a housing crossmember that supports the chocks for the lower roll assembly. Housing post sections extend between the top and bottom housing crossmembers. In a 4-high rolling mill, a pair of work rolls is supported by the upper and lower roll assemblies.
In a 2-high rolling mill, for example, it is known in the art to reduce the weight of the mill by forming the housings from machined thick metal plates rather than from castings. The housing made from metal plates can withstand the same or even greater rolling loads. Usually, rolling mill housings can be more economically produced from machined plates than castings. The weight of a rolling mill, principally comprised of roll assemblies and mill housings, is reduced according to the present invention by an improved rolling mill design to meet the need to operate a rolling mill facility which is severely restricted by the capacity of a mill crane. The unique rolling mill design has general utility due to a lower capital investment provided thereby as compared with a conventional rolling mill construction. Moreover, roll-changing operations are simplified by the use of a crane to assemble the mill stand, to change rolls and to perform maintenance operations.